RT on DVD

New on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Unknown Known and more

Only a few noteworthy choices hit shelves this week.

There aren’t any major releases at all this week on home video. So if you’re looking for something to play in the background while you’re setting off your fireworks, you might be better off looking at some of the other releases that have come out in recent weeks. That said, here’s what you can pick up tomorrow:

Errol Morris trains his gifted documentarian eye on former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in his latest film, The Unknown Known, and critics say it’s mostly a triumph, even if it isn’t as probing as some would have liked. Utilizing both archival footage and direct interviews, the film is a look back on Rumsfeld’s career, which spanned several presidencies, focusing on the most prominent military engagements of the past few decades (Vietnam, Desert Storm, etc). While the end result was fascinating enough to earn a Certified Fresh 83% on the Tomatometer, some critics were disappointed that Morris never quite squeezed any shockingly candid confessions from Rumsfeld or took him to task for what many have considered poor judgment. Still, it’s plenty engrossing on its own and should provide for some thought-provoking conversation for politically-minded viewers.

Also available this week:

Certified Fresh Indian import The Lunchbox (95%), a romantic drama about a woman who bonds with a stranger when he mistakenly becomes the recipient of lunchbox meals intended for the woman’s husband.

Certified Fresh Japanese import Like Father, Like Son (87%), a drama about two families whose lives become intertwined when the discover their six-year-olds were switched at birth.

Season One of the Certified Fresh SyFy series Helix (81%), about a team of scientists researching a disease outbreak in the arctic.

There’s also a DVD collection of classic Twilight Zone episodes packaged as Twilight Zone: Essential Episodes (55th Anniversary Collection), which contains some of the most memorable and iconic stories from the program, including favorites like “Time Enough At Last,” “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” and “The Eye of the Beholder,” among others.